Alright, so what were everyones favorites? I was a big fan of: BA Hyde from Greenbush Grasshoppa & Dirty Bird from Short's BA Batch 9000 from Bells ...and as always, BA PT5 from Darkhorse. The surprise of the night was liking the Gambler from Short's.
I'll also say BA 9000 (had two) and Dirty Bird. Also really liked the DH Homo bourbon sapien and the Livery Venusian quite a bit.
BA 9000 was my favorite. Also enjoyed the BA Hyde and BA Cabra from Greenbush. My biggest disappointment was Death Star, didn't get any raspberries or chocolate from it. Great festival overall, a perfect night on Friday!
My favorites were Night Fury from Witch's Hat, Black Note and MBG 15th Anniversary from Bell's, and Brother Benjamin Double w/Honey from Greenbush.
Damn, all I got was Dark Chocolate from Death Star Lover, but not as much fruit as summer fest. I really liked Barrel Aged Cabra Perdida from Greenbush (it's like Pt5 + blueberries), Bell's BA 9000 & Cherry Stout, Dark Horse's Bourbon Homo Cherry, BA Overlord from Original Gravity, and a couple of our beers at The Livery. What a great beer fest weekend in Detroit!
My favorites were Bastone's ELVIS Experimental Beer, Bells Black Note, Dark Horse Bourbon Barrel Aged Plead The 5th, Short's The Gambler Barrel Aged Experimental IPA and everything from Greenbush. What a great festival tons of amazing beers!
Had a lot of GREAT stuff last night hangin with Derek333 and crew. Highlights: Black Note, BA 9000, Redwood's Hazelnut, DH Death Star, DH BA 5th, DH Homobourbon Cherry, GB's BA Dystopia, GB's Chai Life, and GB's Insufficient Kitchen double brown, amongst a few others. But, one of the most pleasant surprises was Short's Gambler. MVB of the show, IMHO.... Greenbush. Yes, I'm biased. But they brought the thunder and a lineup going almost all day Saturday. Bell's was a close 2nd with their BA offerings. Biggest loser of the day, Founders. 4 beers. Good ones, yes. But only 4??? Their "excuse"... not a big enough festival. Nice.
And in their own state. If they were making the trip why not make it worth everyones time...Just lost a little respect for them. Typical west side of the state snobbery towards the South East side of the state.
It did seem like a waste. I know they received some feedback related to their showing, hopefully they got a lot more. I wouldn't say the West side is that snobby because some other folks from that side (and even further west than Grand Rapids) came with their A game.
Yeah. I was pretty disappointed with Founders. Thanks for bringing beer that I can pick up at any local beer store. Great to see they support the Michigan Brewers Guild Beer Festival in their own respective state. Douches.
Thing is, Founders did the same thing 2 years ago, bringing only 4 beers. There was a firestorm of criticism. They issued a statement apologizing, saying that because of their growth they couldn't make enough goodies for the fest, and promised to do better. Last year, they brought those 4 beers again. This year, did it again. And when I went to their booth at 5:00 yesterday for some Harvest Ale, it was out. So not only did they only bring 4, they didn't bring enough of them!
Bastone Brewery -- ELVIS Experimental Beer -- Absolutely mind-boggling. Rewood Brewery -- Hazelnut Coffee Creme Stout -- Dangerously tasty! Jolly Pumpkin -- Sobrehumano Palena Ole Red Ale -- IMO, the best sour at the festival. ....and I really like our Black Chai Creme Ale.
Shorts Gambler and The Fizziness were surprisingly enjoyable. DH Homobourbon Cherry was fantastic, along with Edasac Dekoorc Eeert IPA Greenbush BA Dystopia, Distorter Porter over habenero and vanilla bean firkin and Chai Life Right Brain CEO Coffee Stout Original Gravity BA Evil Overlord (got the last pour!) The Livery Venusian Anyone have the Double Bubble IPA from The Hideout? Sure was interesting.
Were you following me? I think I had almost all the same beers with similar opinions. Oh yeah! The Double Bubble.... had it, strange. Kinda ok. Need to try it again. Although I'm not sure I will like it more.
